Door opening mechanism



7 Feb. 16, 1960 Filed Aug. 1, 1956 M. A. VOLF 2,925,267

DOOR OPENING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MATT A. VOLF Feb. 16, 1960 M. A. VOLF DOOR OPENING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1956 moi A MP 1 1 Y 0 NV I m M T T A 2 M Y B N nu typ ical garage door, 7

atrack. a. Y r

; Figure 3 is an endjvrew of hermotor device of the scribed will still operate.

2 2a? d rea 1 7 large rubber wheel 15. .One end o'fithe h u'sing l z is secnredto the door 10 by means of a plate l iw i s boltedfto the doorby bolts 17 and a hinge device 18,is'

p M I included ,in'the mounting device. Thehin'ge which is 1 r 7 illustratedin-Figure,2..comp1fises a, P O pa 'pl D MECHANISM I I 19 connected to a plate 16 and between which anjaxle 2g 7 V H l V l is 'mounted. A U-shaped connector 21 is mounte A. Volt c 9 t around the axle and is connected by nuts 22 to the Applicafion u 1. 5 fi 5 6 mounting arm 231' The other end'of the mounting azra Y r l 10 23 is secured to th e housing 12 O t motolb-Y: olts 4 Chums -'f ft A wheel 25 is connectedto the axle 20 and positioned J j a 5 within the C-shaped track 11 to guide and stabilize 'the T v 7 unit as it moves upand down as the door is'operated. V a Relative rotarymotion can'take place between the U This invintion pertains 9 "9P "d -f 15 shaped connector and the axle 20, thereby establishing a garage doors and thelike ichwa m ilntdl 7 ove v V pivoting action at theulocation where the arm 23 conp y and downwardly 011 a Vnects to the door 10. ,Theiwheel 25 and axle preferably An je t oi the i Y iQ to P i e jJ I I are part of the-regular equipment which supports the garage door openingdevice which is carried bythe door 1 6 i h f lp V I v and acts on the tracks holding the door. 7 r 20 h e i h l edge of the rubber tire 15 of thedrive Another Object of the i e n s to PIQ 83, 8? 7. wheel preferably is shapedfto conform to the shape of;

door Opening devicelwhich sil d u s s i nstalled Y the bo ttomofthetracka11- lIfhnsiif the bottom ed f tea-e n lf Te w 'jFigurje lot the drawing is a, :v1 device ',of-lthe inv'entio instal Figure 2 is a sidevi U l H H V w and its mounting-to a doorand tow ing the motor device invention. a r 7 Figure 41s a 'side view' showin release,.mec hanisn1,' i121 'Figure 5' fis" acncuit circuitforithem'otor devic'ei f f With reference 'tUFig'ui'e" 1; 't i 1 shown" a we vertical lift type garage door10, mounted 'on a pair (only ae ham'w l a a n v e E1 pling of 'r-hemoter dithti-ik 11,; With this couplingl released the operatorcan easily-openithe-door by hand. v one shown) of spacedapartrails 11. Ina-typical garage T; When electric power is restored,--l1e can easily re -engage ij 5 door installation the rails upon;which the door'is'mountthe electric power'drive by merely pushing the end of m J ed for upward and downward movement are suitablefor 65 the crank-33 upwarduntil-th eend 32 of the crank is' in P the installation of the device'ofuthe invention; Prefer position undemeath' the end31 of the cros's'bar'29, there n ably, as shown in Figure 3, the rail 11 has aJ-Shaped "by-pivoting the bar 29 slightly on the .curvedsurface 46- cross-section, thoughif it does' not the device 'hereind e-v i andfaround bolt 30 as a-"pivot,'to tightly re-engage the 1 f wheel 21 on the inside surfaceof the curved 'traclt ll.

An electric motor device is provided, encased in a 7 0; The' electric motor within the. housing'gl2 'is' ofhlthe housing 12, which 'drives'a worm gear-13 and through reversible type, andiaswitch actuating device 50 is mountthe worm'gear a gear l4fwhich-inturnis connected to a ed by bolt 6 1;o'f"the' motorfhousin'g 12. "A'1ong eleetric ato'r next sigha'lsthe door to open. Such a signal may 1 be by radio, push button, super-sonic device, or other 'suchmechanism 'lg'nown to the art. i

Figurefi illu'strates the electric circuit for-"the door P 1 vice. a I, The electric motori70 has windings 71, and thediree tion of rotation of the motor 70 depends upon the direction of current flow through the windings. One or more switch stations 72', 73 are provided, for example switch station 72 maybe within the house and station 73 may be a manually operated switch mounted on a post beside the driveway, -or it maybe a radio or supersonically actuated switch. Switches 72 and 73 normally are in a neutral position illustrated by switch blade 72, and are electrically connected in parallel so that actuation of either one will open or close the door 10, depending upon whether the starting position of the door is closed or open. For example, if thetdoor is closed, the next actuation of either switch 72, 73 will cause the door to open; but if the door is in its open condition the next actuation of either switch will cause the door to close.

Thusthe electrical wiring for they door operator'of this inventionis*quite simple. The: electrical equipment with inthe dash-dot square is mounted within the garage"-" where it isi protected from the weather, and switches 72 and 73-tnay also be protected. Thus,the 'only outside" 7 wires 75 arethose running from the house to the garage,

in the eyent there 'is a controlswitch 7201-773 inside the 5 house. w

the ,dooran electric circuit is made .inibnezdirection' by the door and placing the two rollers on opposite sides of the already existing track. Installation of the limit devices 65 for throwing the switch completes the installation. If desired, the bias releasing device may be con nectcd through the door for convenience in the event of a power failure. The unit is very safe since it is a frictional drive from motor to track, and if anything such as a childs bicycle is underneath the door as the door closes it will not crush the bike, but will slip between the drive wheel and the track. Further, with the bias release chain 36 installed, a pull on the chain will quickly release the driving power to stop the door.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claims to cover. all such changes and 'rnodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: t

1. A door opening device for use with a vertically slidable door mounted on track means, comprising, in combination, reversible electric motor assemblymeans, means for connecting said motor assembly means to said door,

a 'pair of pinch 'r'oll'ersat leaston'e of which is made of resilient rubber-like material connected to and forming a portion of said motor assembly means and, at,le"a st one of which is driven by the motor, 'oneof said pair of pinch rollers engaging one, side'bf said 'traclt means and'the sec-. .dndifof said pinchfrollers engaging the opp os iteyside of said" track means at'a location opposite said first pinch 'motor 70 and .itswindingsfll, thereby drivingtheirnotor inblufdjejs ithe swit'ch wand 605;, It, is; munt i onfa'nd' travels with themotor 70, ,windings 71 etc. j Wheil the door 10 reaches its closed position theeirtended wand 60 (Figure 2-)" throws switch 60""into the condition shown by the dashed connectionsfl8 5, 8'6, 8 7, i nstead"of that shown by the d0tted -conne'ctionsf82, '83, '84; This breaks F1 dm wh w O na e b closing s tch 7 9' its downwardfposition,:andthe entire circuitis'd ener gi'zed Further downwar .closirig of any or artist the, actuating 'switches ,72; 73 inoperativefsince the door is.

closed."

- When the operatornfant s?the door tolopen, nyl one (if thef operating switches 72, 731 is thrown to its upward positron; thereby r'naking a circuit through the? switch72 y73jwill caiise the door to close. t

It wi11 beseen that the device of thisfinventi'on is easily mqumed alreadyexistingyertically operable garage doors simply by connecting the motor unit to roller for frictionall'y driving said door, the motor and said pinch rollersmovingas a unit with said door as said doorxis opened'fand closed, pinching means connected to and forming a portion of said'niotor. assembly. means for limiting the distance apart "of said rollers on opposite I sidesFof said track meansfand electric circuit means in-' cluding switching means, connected to said reversible electric'moto I 4 2. A dbor opening'device"asset forth in claim .1, fur- "the r ichalracter'ize'cl by sa'id means for connecting said motor assembly means to said door comprisinga .plate secured *to said-doon saidplate including a portion of a iiingeQ'compIementar hinge means forming a portion of said -motoiassembly means cooperating with, said plate hinge portion to pivotably secure said motor assembly spring bias means for urging said pinch rollers together when they are on opposite sides of saidtra'clr means.

4. A door. opening device as set forth inclaim 3, further. characterized by said pinching means includingreleas'ej me'ans whereby-said spring bias m'ay be released.

I References Cited idthetile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,430,729 1T Negri 'Nov. 11,1947 2,747,863 Huppertel; a1. a 29,1956 $752,150 Richmondet'ai. June-26,1956 2,755,081

7 Johnsonet al.' July 17, 1956 

